DALLAS COOK
Staff Writer
A familiar name will face is leaving office, but she will not be out of the public view long: Assembly Member Fran Pavley, who is leaving office because of term limits, has decided to run for the California state senate.
Schoolteacher, mayor, state legislator, and now a candidate for the 2008 state senatorial race, Pavley of Agoura Hills has made a name for herself working to clean the air and cool the planet, one smart law at a time.
In four years more than 30 of her pro-health and pro-environment bills have become laws. Just this month, in fact, she has eleven bills on the governor’s desk, two of which have already been passed.
Pavley, who is now serving her third term in office, said her primary reason for running for legislature was to “bring some real life practical experience into the assembly.”
Pavley, who taught history and government for 28 years, said that teaching gave her that real-life experience and a good background for dealing with people. Even so, Pavley said that her time as assemblywoman has been challenging.
“You have to let the legislature work well and gain the respect of your fellow legislators, well, at least 41 of them,” Pavley said. “You have to be effective not only on the policy, but also the people you work with.”
Because of her commitment to environmentalism she was named one of Organic Style magazine’s “2005 Women with Organic Style”. “It was like a Cinderella experience,” Pavley said of the spring event held at Lincoln Center in New York, “overlooking Central Park with music, beautiful food and beautiful people.” Some of the other award winners included actress Helen Hunt and singer and fiddler Allison Krauss. Pavley and nine other outstanding women were honored for their convictions and compassion for children and preserving the planet.
There is no doubt that Pavley has a compassion for children: “You feel you can touch the future when you are teaching children.” She thinks there is a direct tie-in with education and schools in California and the environment.
Her strong environmental passion convinced her to leave the education system and run for mayor of Agoura Hills. During her four terms as mayor, she was happy to be involved in many environmental organizations.
Now as assemblywoman, Pavley continues to stay very involved in the community. “She’s very dedicated and passionate about the environment and children’s safety and air quality and public safety,” said Chief of Staff Deborah Gravert. “We try to go out into the district and go to the people instead of them trying to find us.” Her staff attempts to host a local outreach event at least once a month to stay accessible to the people of district 41.
Not only is the assemblywoman well-known in the community, but Gravert said that she has good relationships with the other members and respects their opinions, even if they differ from hers. If a member is opposing her bill she will just talk with them about the issue. “She’ll methodically talk to them about why she thinks it is a good bill and she makes sure people understand why she’s doing what she’s doing,” Gravert said. “She handles things very calmly and always is respectful.”
Her superior people skills have been influential thus far and should make it no problem for the 2008 state senatorial election. For future goals, Pavley wants to continue promoting environmental health related issues, air health and water quality. One of the most important changes is the continuation of diversifying the types of fuels. Bill 1007 has been proposed to accelerate production and improve the interest in alternative fuels. Not only fuels such as oil, but there is a possibility of bio diesel or bio mass, which is taking plant materials in the valleys and creating energy and fuel from them. She will also be pushing production of hybrids or hydrogen fueled cars. She believes in this issue because California cannot continue relying on fuels that will be depleted at some point. She looks forward to continuing to work on that issue.
12-15-2005